Russian Perspectives on European Security at the turn of the Century

Professor Grigori Sergeevich Khozin from the Department of Foreign Policy and International Relations, Russian Diplomatic Academy spoke to an invited audience at the Delhi Policy Group on January 2, 2001.

Speaking on the `Russian Perspectives on European Security at the turn of the century' Professor Khozin said that from medieval times Europe had been a source of danger for Russia. This makes the country anxious and it over reacts in its relations with the rest of the continent. The post world war period was one of the benchmarks in Russian foreign policy that led to a new wave of confrontation with Europe. Though Russia had emerged a winner from the war it was totally exhausted and had to double its efforts to remain a super power. It had to not only search allies to balance the power equation with the western world but also to concentrate on military power with the assumption that a militarily strong country would be a politically strong one too. One of the important lessons learnt from the experience was that more arms build up between the two ideologically distinct camps of the democrats and communists enhanced psychological threats from each other. The second important benchmark in the Russian history is the Helsinki Accord of 1975 that emphasized on socio- economic factors instead of just military affairs.

The dramatic socio-political changes experienced in Soviet Union and Europe in 1990s led to rethinking on security perceptions. Russia, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union was looking for a place in the world order but was also going through policy dilemmas ranging from the policy of rejecting the communist past to one of maintaining the status quo. Russia had to reassess itself and its policies. It tried to change its own policies to suit its internal and external security concerns. One of the positive changes from the past was transparency in the policy not only to the world but also to its own people. The non-military aspect of security viz. political, economic, humanitarian, environmental etc have become the new thrust areas in the Russian policy pronouncements. In the same context Prof. Khozin said that in Russian thinking NATO as a military alliance has lost its relevance. The European Union is more contemporary in its approach with its emphasis on economic security. However Russia will remain with the Organisation and Security for Cooperation in Europe because of its holistic perspective on security. These directions in the Russian policy were due to the existing reality of the country no longer being a super power. The speaker said that a country's aspirations have to be met by its economic and military capabilities and without it Russia had to tailor its ambitions as a power. The US under the Bush administration will try to project the Russian threat to keep the rationale for military weapons. However, on receiving no counter reaction from Russia to build its military strength, America will have to again rethink its policies on Russia. Russia would in the future view Europe as a potential partner in security affairs.